The Bamford Family, Steyning

“It was so easy, there was no hassle. They just worked around our needs which made the whole process absolutely simple from start to finish.”
Vanessa Bamford

The starting point

Vanessa Bamford recently moved to a new home in Steyning with her husband Jed and their two teenage children.

They decided to take the plunge and start their own business. They purchased a new property just outside of the main village that includes a family home for them and three holiday cottages that are rented out to holiday makers throughout the year.

Maintaining three cottages as well as their home meant the Bamfords would see a significant jump in their electricity bills, and they wanted to find a sustainable solution that wouldn’t take away from their cottages’ aesthetic.

Solar was the answer.

The background

Vanessa began researching solar suppliers in her area and had started to get some quotes from local installers.

During a visit to her IKEA store in Southampton, she noticed their solar shop and was pleased to discover that IKEA were now offering home solar as well as a new battery storage option.
She went home and did some further research online, she requested a quote via the IKEA calculator and was pleased to find that the solar and battery storage system were both within her price range.

The Bamfords had a 4kWp solar and battery storage system installed in March and it began powering their home and three cottages immediately.

The battery is situated neatly in the utility area. The solar panels are installed in a valleyroof and aren’t visible from the ground.

The response

Vanessa says having the system has been wonderful and that it has changed her day to day life. She now times her electrical consumption based on the weather forecast saying, “the washing machine is turned on a sunny day and there is no more waiting for evenings to run load after load”.

The Bamfords are also pleased with their home battery as they are now using energy that they are mostly generating themselves.

They are excited to tell guests about how their cottages are run on clean solar energy and are proud to say that their business is run as sustainably as possible.

The result

Vanessa says the installation ran very smoothly and that the installers worked around her schedule and came and installed the system on a day when they had no guest bookings.

“It was so easy, there was no hassle. They just worked around our needs which made the whole process absolutely simple from start to finish”. The solar system and battery were both installed in a single day.

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